Nutritionist Alexa Fishback's Tips on Snacking Healthy

Alexa Fishback on Right Way to Snack

We are pleased to announce our first ever guest blogger, nutritionist Alexa Fishback. Since the Get Fit For 2010 challenge this week is all about healthy snacking, we asked Alexa for tips on maximizing the nutritional power of your snacks.

The good news? You should have two snacks every day, in addition to your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The bad news — you probably already do. But maybe one snack comes in the form of mindlessly grabbing a handful of M&M's off the reception desk in your office and the other grazing on some pretzels and a Snapple from the work fridge. At the end of the day, these options are highly caloric and not very satiating.

The solution — plan ahead for two snacks every day, one small snack (0-100 calories) and one more substantial snack (100-200 calories) — to keep your blood sugar levels stable between each meal, to give you the energy you need to get through the workday, and to prevent overeating at the next meal. If you can, plan to eat two of these three snack options in some form every day — fruit or veggies (raw, dried, or cooked), nuts or nut butters spread on whole wheat crackers, bread or fruit/veggies, and/or a cup of yogurt or cottage cheese.